Justin Cox
Photos From the 2026 Wine & Sea Auction!

Thank you to everyone who joined us for the 2026 Wine & Sea Auction! Under the theme Expanding Science, Expanding Hope, we gathered on a beautiful, sunny Orcas Island afternoon to celebrate the power of science, community, and generosity in protecting the Salish Sea.

Thanks to our donors, sponsors, guests, and volunteers, this year's event was a great fundraising success that will help fuel SeaDoc’s ongoing work. Your generosity is an investment in hope—for marine wildlife, healthy ecosystems, and the people who care deeply about this remarkable place.

Photos From the 2026 Wine & Sea Auction!
Justin Cox
New Study: Largest-Ever Dataset of Elemental ...

From mercury and cadmium to selenium and zinc, the elements that accumulate in an animal's body can offer valuable clues about its health and the environment it inhabits. A newly published study in the international journal PLOS ONE is helping scientists better understand what those clues look like in one of the Pacific Northwest's most iconic marine mammals: killer whales.

Drawing on 25 years of opportunistically collected tissue samples from stranded killer whales across the northeastern Pacific Ocean, researchers analyzed concentrations of both essential and non-essential elements in three distinct killer whale ecotypes—fish-eating residents, mammal-eating transients, and offshore killer whales that specialize in eating sharks and other fish. The study represents the largest and most comprehensive dataset of its kind ever assembled for killer whales worldwide.

New Study: Largest-Ever Dataset of Elemental Concentrations in Killer Whales
Justin Cox
Science With an Impact: SeaDoc Funds Six New ...

We’re excited to announce that SeaDoc Society will fund six new science projects in 2026, investing nearly $270,000 in research to better understand and protect the Salish Sea. Carefully selected by our brilliant Scientific Advisory Committee and made possible by passionate donors like you, these projects tackle some of the region’s most important conservation challenges.

Science With an Impact: SeaDoc Funds Six New Research Projects!
Justin Cox
Photos from Our Special Low-Tide Walk on Orcas ...

Last month a special group of SeaDoc supporters joined our team for a low-tide walk along the shores of the Salish Sea. With the Salish Sea shorelines pulled back, we spent the evening exploring tide pools, spotting sea stars and crabs, and getting a closer look at the incredible marine life that’s often hidden beneath the surface.

Like our good friend Adam Summers over at Friday Harbor Labs told us, you have to be tough to survive in the intertidal waters. Depending on the tides and the seasons, these species can spend hours under the sea or in the direct sunlight; or sloshing about in between the two! Our Science Director Joe Gaydos often shares that message before we respectfully explore the wonders of the intertidal, always leaving it as we came.

Photos from Our Special Low-Tide Walk on Orcas Island
Justin Cox
Salish Sea Wild Episode about Grizzlies Gets ...

For the second year straight, the SeaDoc Society’s Salish Sea Wild series has been nominated for an EMMY by the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences! 

This year our immersive piece about Grizzly Bears–which saw Joe Gaydos, Bob Friel and the team descend into the Canadian wilderness–was nominated in the North West Chapter's Environment/Science - Long Form Content category!

Salish Sea Wild Episode about Grizzlies Gets Nominated for an EMMY!

SeaDoc Society is Hiring a Regional Director

Have you managed a dedicated team? Do you have demonstrated fundraising experience? Do you know how to engage a high-level Board of Directors and shepherd a team towards the big, hairy and audacious, but critical, goal of creating a healthy Salish Sea? If so, we have the opportunity for you.

The SeaDoc Society is hiring a Regional Director to provide development and management leadership for our team. This is a position within the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine. The person hired will work closely with our Science Director, Dr. Joe Gaydos, our Executive Director Dr. Kirsten Gilardi, and our Board of Directors to advance SeaDoc's overall mission in the Salish Sea. She/he also will oversee and manage SeaDoc Society outreach, education and administrative staff and workloads.

Book Review: The Iconic Abalone’s Remarkable History and Uncertain Future

Book Review: The Iconic Abalone’s Remarkable History and Uncertain Future

How were Vancouver Island’s Nuu-chah-nulth people, California red abalone, Chinese quicksilver, and 18th century Spanish Treasure Fleets connected to each other? In two enlightening pages, author Ann Vileisis weaves a fascinating story of world trade for bright shiny objects, plush furs, and technology that illuminate a web of dependency among the Salish Sea, China, California, Mexico, and Spain all tied to a big marine snail with a miraculous shell—abalone. It’s an engaging introduction.

Donor Spotlight: Dean and Audrey Stupke

Dean and Audrey Stupke have championed SeaDoc's efforts to heal the Salish Sea through science and education for well over a decade. They've regularly donated to our annual GiveBig campaign and our Wine & Sea auction, both of which are crucial to making our science-based work possible. They are also a long-time sponsor of our Ocean Night event series each winter, helping us bring amazing speakers and educational films to Orcas Island.

Are marine mammal stranding hotspots a real thing?

Are marine mammal stranding hotspots a real thing?

Scientists learn a lot about marine mammal health from stranded animals. Afterall, marine mammals don’t spend much time above water, so they’re pretty hard to study. Studying stranded animals teaches us about diseases that are important for marine mammal health and human health. But finding stranded animals is challenging, because everything from tides and currents to coastal conditions can determine where a dead animal might end up on shore. And are there really such things as stranding hotspots?

Saving the Pinto Abalone, One Bottle of Sea Water at a Time

Saving the Pinto Abalone, One Bottle of Sea Water at a Time

Pinto abalone populations in the Salish Sea have been decimated after years of poaching and over-harvest, falling by 98 percent in recent decades. There are not enough remaining in the wild for them to reproduce naturally because they are “broadcast spawners,” meaning if one releases sperm, a female needs to release her eggs close enough to be fertilized.

When abalone are not close enough to other reproductively active abalone there can be no reproduction, making them functionally extinct in the wild.

SeaDoc Awards Salish Sea Science Prize to Crab Team For Early Detection and Prevention of Invasive European Green Crab

SeaDoc Awards Salish Sea Science Prize to Crab Team For Early Detection and Prevention of Invasive European Green Crab

The European green crab is a damaging invasive species that has wreaked havoc on ecosystems around the world, and recently they’ve found their way into the Salish Sea. Thanks to Washington Sea Grant’s Crab Team, major scientifically based efforts are being made to stop its spread before it starts. For this use of science to improve the health of the Salish Sea, this Earth Day they have been announced as winners of the SeaDoc Society’s 2020 Salish Sea Science Prize, which comes with a $2,000 no-strings-attached cash award.

When introduced into ecosystems outside of its native range, the green crab’s impact has been both ecological and economic. Not only do they disturb native habitat, displace resident species and alter natural food webs, but they have decimated shellfish industries upon which livelihoods depend. Amid the current COVID-19 pandemic, the Crab Team’s work is a reminder that intervention is most effective before the impacts of an invasion even become visible.

Different Killer Whales, Different Teeth (Interactive)

Different Killer Whales, Different Teeth (Interactive)

Three different types of killer whales can be found in the Salish Sea. They don’t mix, even though they look similar to humans and live in the same place. They are genetically distinct, and they don’t breed with one another. They have different calls, different behavioral patterns, and they eat different prey.

2020 Wine & Sea Auction Cancelled 

2020 Wine & Sea Auction Cancelled 

As many of you may have already guessed, we have canceled the 2020 SeaDoc Society Wine & Sea Auction due to the current COVID-19 pandemic. This event was originally planned for July 11th on Orcas Island. This annual fundraiser is one of our favorite days of the year because it allows us to gather with you, our supporters, and celebrate our shared accomplishments and make investments in future ones. At this time, however, our collective health is most important, and we look forward to the time when we can come together again.

Where Are You Finding Hope in These Times?

Where Are You Finding Hope in These Times?

Last week our Science Director, Joe Gaydos, shared a message of compassion and hope during this time of social distancing and COVID-19. It can be difficult to think about anything right now besides the pandemic that has is staying in place. In Joe’s message, he suggested the ocean as a place to send your mind in search of natural beauty and inspiration.

We want to know: What are you thinking about to maintain hope during these times? What are you doing each day that might inspire others? Submit your thoughts below and we’ll compile them in our next newsletter. Stay safe!

Salish Sea Wild: The Tufted Puffins of Destruction Island

Salish Sea Wild: The Tufted Puffins of Destruction Island

On a risky mission to remote, rugged Destruction Island, Team SeaDoc tries to solve the mysteries of the Tufted Puffin in the hopes of saving this charismatic seabird from local extinction.

We are releasing this special cut of the episode as the spreading pandemic keeps us all in our homes. We hope you enjoy. Stay safe and stay healthy.

We’re Part of the Top Veterinary School in the World

We’re Part of the Top Veterinary School in the World

We’re thrilled to share that once again the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine has been named the top veterinary school in the world!

While SeaDoc Society is a self-sustaining program on Orcas Island whose scientific and educational work is focused entirely on improving the health of the Salish Sea, we are proud to be a program of the Karen C. Drayer Wildlife Health Center, a center of excellence at UC Davis’ incredible veterinary school. This week’s #1 ranking comes from the highly reputable Quacquarelli Symonds, but Davis is also number one with U.S. News and World Reports and several other world rankings. It’s the best of the best, and we’re lucky to have such brilliant people on our side.

SeaDoc Board Member Publishes Beautiful New Book: Pacific Flyway

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pacific-flyway

SeaDoc Board Member Audrey Benedict and her team spoke about their new book on the Pacific Flyway to a packed house last night at Seattle’s Town Hall this week! Weaving powerful images with a science narrative, this book portrays the amazing lives of migratory birds along the America’s Pacific Flyway. It’s also an urgent call for conservation and stewardship. You can read more at www.sasquatchbooks.com.

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About the book:

The migratory waterbirds of the Pacific Flyway convert food, air, and water into a mileage plan that has few equals in the animal world. Set against a backdrop of stunning images from more than 120 internationally acclaimed photographers, this book shares the amazing stories of these migrants--a cast of characters that includes shorebirds, seabirds, and waterfowl.

Stretching from the Arctic regions of northeastern Russia, Alaska, and western Canada and along the Pacific coastlines of North, Central, and South America, the Pacific Flyway traverses some of our planet's greatest climatic and topographic extremes. Defined by water, the flyway encompasses a sweeping expanse of coastal and offshore marine ecosystems and an inland archipelago of freshwater wetlands. Hemispheric in scope, this integrated network of ecosystems is linked by its moving parts--the millions of migratory birds whose lives depend on this 10,000-mile (16,000-km) corridor as they travel between their breeding and overwintering grounds. With their ocean- and continent-spanning travels, waterbirds are our sentinels in a changing world--each of their journeys revealing the fraying edges of the web of life that sustains us all. Pacific Flyway perfectly blends amazing photography, science writing, and storytelling to illuminate the profound challenges faced by migratory birds and to inspire a longterm commitment to global conservation efforts.

Killer Whale Health Database Gets Another Round of Support from Microsoft Azure

Killer Whale Health Database Gets Another Round of Support from Microsoft Azure

We’re thrilled to announce that Microsoft Azure has once again extended their support of our ongoing creation of the Killer Whale Health Database through their AI For Earth program. The database, which aims to house a wealth of valuable health data, is currently being developed by The SeaDoc Society and the National Marine Mammal Foundation.

The AI For Earth grant, which was initially awarded to SeaDoc in 2018, offers Microsoft Azure’s cloud-computing platform and assistance with artificial intelligence computing tools for comprehensive data analysis.

Salish Sea Wild: Finding Your Inner Mermaid

In this episode, Joe meets a local mermaid who teaches him about the wonders of freediving in the Salish Sea. Not only does it involve far less gear than scuba diving, but it lets you become one with the environment! Without the heavy tanks and endless bubbles, people are not so much alien visitors as we are fellow marine mammals. All you need is a mask and a wetsuit to get in on the action!